Hot Reads for Cold Nights

I just joined a reading program at our library, appropriately called "Hot Reads for Cold Nights," that encourages the community to read during cold Minnesota months when you're bound indoors.

I like to read, and I feel like I read quite a bit for my state in life, which basically leaves me with no free time to speak of. Still, reading is a value of mine, and something I want to model for the children. I want them to read, so they should see me read.

The biggest problem that I have with reading is finding out what exactly to read. I'm picky. I don't like romance novels, anything too fluffy or sentimental, nor anything that aims to shock or sensationalize. This leave Jodi Piccoult and Nicholas Sparks out the door. Won't read them. I've tried, and it's torture (for me, no offense).

I need something with a bit more meat, if you will, something with substance that can be nourishing to the mind in it's wealth of knowledge and content. There's a forum online that I frequent (to peruse, not to contribute). It's a classical homeschooling website without any religious affiliation or agenda. While most the threads are homeschooling related, some are parents who are teaching their children a classical curriculum and want to be self-learners along with them. They strive to read a book a week and give recommendations and suggestions based on each person's interest.

It's my cup of tea ;) . The Well-Trained Mind is everything that I love about education. The forums are even better. With pen and paper in hand, I eagerly write down book suggestions and take it the library, hoping that our local library has at least a handful of the titles on my long list.

This week I'm reading "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan," by Lisa See. A fictionalized account of foot-binding and women's oppression in Imperial China, it was recommended multiple times on the Well-Trained Mind forum.

So far, so good.